


Transformers: Lockdown

by SandHand



Series: Transformers: Cybertron [1]
Category: Transformers - All Media Types, Transformers: War for Cybertron
Genre: Action/Adventure, Bounty Hunters, Gen, Pre-Earth Transformers, Series
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-08
Updated: 2019-11-23
Packaged: 2020-11-02 00:27:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 12,699
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20559629
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SandHand/pseuds/SandHand
Summary: On the planet Cybertron a war between the heroic Autobots and the evil Decepticons continues to rage on. As the planet grows weak and the battles grow more deadly a third party arrives on the planet to change the tide of the war.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, this is my first time posting anything ever. This is just a story I've kind of been sitting on for years and I felt like rewriting it. I'll try and add to it frequently and I hope you enjoy. I'm mostly making up stuff/ pulling from the War for Cybertron game and its sequel but there are some things pulled from other places like the movies and shows. Hope you like it.

****

Beyond the Milky Way galaxy, past hundreds of planets and stars was the planet Cybertron. From orbit it appeared to be a ball of metal with a few faint lights and jagged lines, but the globe was home to sprawling deserts of rust, grand cities made of intricate metals and lit with beautiful neon, and oceans of blue life-giving liquid, energon. The planet even had two small satellites that orbited it; one was artificial, a space station once used for scientific research, the other was a simple lifeless moon. As always both flew around Cybertron peacefully and undisturbed, but as they spun a large shadow begun to engulf the moon.

From Cybertron’s south pole three ships flew towards the source of the shadow, a titanic star ship that had taken position over the moon. The craft seemed to be absent of any color besides the light green lights that dotted its sides and tinted its windows. The rest was a black that overtook the empty space surrounding it, like a black hole. The three ships coming from the surface of the planet continued to roar towards the black craft in a staggered formation. The ship in the middle was larger and lagged behind slightly; it looked like it was designed to hold a crew of some kind. On either side of the ship was a smaller, sleeker ship resembling a jet with mostly black and grey colors and orange glass. Between the three ships there was one commonality, a distinct purple insignia plastered on the wings, almost resembling a face the design was made of different spiked triangles.

As the three ships neared the star ship a large slab of metal slid away revealing a well-lit hanger of sorts, inviting in the visiting crafts. Without a word the ships change direction and made their way to the hanger. Inside there were crew working. Some carried large metal boxes while others directed them, others worked on computers and tablets, and others seemed to be maintaining and checking their own ships. Each resembled their star ship; clad in black with green dots of light and made entirely of metal. Each seemed very uniform in appearance; blocky builds with humanoid features like legs, hands, even faces; none wore a distinct insignia. As the three visiting ships came into the hanger the two jets seemed to speed up. Arcing towards the ceiling and cutting their engines both planes began to fall and as they did, they seemed to crumble like paper producing a strange electronic sound. As they fell new features began to appear; feet, hands, and eventually faces. As they hit the ground of the hanger their transformation was mostly complete; wings clicked into place behind their newly formed backs and small bits of metal readjusted into shoulders and hips. The third, larger, ship landed more traditionally and the sides of it slid away revealing one passenger. From the hanger the ships crew could only see the shadow of the new arrival, already transformed it began to step out of the shadows of its ship into the light of the hanger. First, it’s large right hand with a cannon welded to it reached for the roof of the ship, then the rest of the being rose out of the carrier. He stood taller than any of the workers or even his escorts. Now fully emerged from the ship and at his full height the bot gave the hanger a once over and smirked.

From the other end of the hanger an elevator arrived, and two worker bots stepped out, like the ones already working around the room these were clad in the same colors and lights but seemed to sport more armor. They approached the arrival and gave small respectful nods “Welcome to _Black Star_ Megatron.”  
The tall bought allowed his smirk to widen and then broke it with a response “It is an honor soldiers, I wish to speak to your commander.”

Both soldiers nodded and motioned for him to follow. Before Megatron could take a step, his escorts moved to assume their original positions in front of their leader. One of the soldiers immediately turned and lifted his hand to stop them “ You both can wait here with your drop ship, _he’s_ only expecting Megatron.”  
One of the escorts prepared to spit some insult out but Megatron raised his unarmed hand “Surely he could make an exception for my personal guards, they’ll behave.”

The solider moved his head slightly eyeing down both flying troops. They sneered at him, arms folded; they looked so causal, like whatever happened next was predetermined. “Fine, but no guarantees the boss will go for it.” He grumbled.

The elevator ride was mostly silent. The two soldiers belonging to the _Black Star_ stood closest to the entrance with their backs to their visitors. Megatron stood in the small boxes center while his guards occupied the other two corners. At one point one of his bots and let out a small snicker which caught the attention of one of the soldiers but Megatron quickly shot his troop a look that silenced him. Once the elevator arrived the doors slid open revealing a sprawling bridge with a high ceiling and little clutter. The wall opposite the elevator was, instead of metal or even a computer screen, a large green tinted window. Outside Megatron could see Cybetron in all it’s glory; he allowed his mind to wander a bit, he thought of how satisfying it would be to finally rule, but first he had to win his war.

Returning to the room Megatron noticed workstations on either of the side walls lined with more of the _Star’s_ crew. Each sat in a small metal chair and typed on a computer built into the wall, green light illuminating them. The final feature of the bridge was a black chair in the middle of the room. It was tall and at the very top two spikes extended the height of the throne further. Megatron stepped forward gave a slight bow and addressed the chair that was turned away from him “Thank you for answering my call.”

The chair did not shift at all. Megatron waited for a response but none came, he slowly rose back to his full height and continued to speak. “As you know I have been fighting to bring peace to Cybetron for some time, but my enemy, the faction known as the autobots, have made it hard to reach my goal.”

Megatron paused again turning to see if anything had changed. The occupant of the throne was still looking out at Cybertron, the other bots were still typing away and Megatron was growing impatient. “As you can imagine this has been extremely costly and frustrating.”

Megatron began to pace, arms folded behind his back as best he could manage. He could fell the anger bubbling up as he spoke and he decided to work with it “I have been _forced_ to take violent action against theses pest at the cost of my men, my morals, and the very planet I am attempting to save!” The throne still did not budge.

Megatron’s escorts had begun to stair at their master, unsure of what to do next. The solider that had arrived with them were now waiting from the back as the leader of the Decepticons, an army of gladiators turned rebellion threw what could only be described as the start of a tantrum.

Megatron stopped pacing, he took one slow breath and smiled, returning his attention to the chair “Perhaps a demonstration of my agitation is in order.”  
He lifted his arm cannon and the high pitch sound of its charge filled the mostly quiet room. Before the soldiers could react Megatron turned and fired a large purple blast into one of the workstations on the wall. The computer was obliterated and the soldier occupying the station was thrown to the side with bits of his body falling away. The soldiers quickly stepped forward flicking their arms and transforming them into guns. Before they could lift them towards Megatron both escorts were on top of them. One had produced a sword from his arm and plunged it into the guard in front of him sending bits of metal and drops of blue energon onto the floor and both bots. The other decepticon had grabbed the gun of the soldier and began to crush it with his strength. He then gave the soldier two quick jabs with his free hand right into the solders face, denting it and cracking the green glowing glass that acted as his eyes. Megatron blasted another console sending more metal and solders flying. By now the ones still at working computers had rose with guns ready and were moving towards Megatron. The first decepticon had continued to rip away at his target, stabbing him over and over sending more energon and metal flying, while the second had left his target on the ground with one arm and a busted face. He turned to face the mod moving towards Megatron and lifted both his arms. They clicked apart revealing rows of missiles.

Before Megatron could fire another shot or his escort could unleash a barrage of rockets a single precise shot rang threw the bridge striking the first deception in the back. He slumped over immediate on top of his already dead target. The bridge was silent again and all eyes turned to the chair that had now been turned around. Its owner had risen from his seat, his arms slowing transforming from a large blaster back into a humanoid hand. Megatron smiled, now he had the commander’s attention.

The bot stepped down the few steps in front of his throne. He was almost as tall as Megatron but remarkably slender. The robot was clad in the same black as his ship and his men, each step he took did not clang like the others, it seemed to vibrate almost. The most striking feature of the bot was his face, extremely intricate and made of mostly plates of bronze complete with two small light green eyes. “Lord Megatron.”

His voice rung low and calm despite the carnage all around his bridge “I already know all I need to about you and your… _situation. _ All I need from you is instruction.”

Megatron smiled, now feeling he wasn’t being ignored “Excellent, I’d like you plan an attack on the city of Iacon, the autobot capitol. If it were to fall, they would scatter like the pests they are, and my victory would be all but assured.”

The bot turned away from Megatron and went back to his chair “It will be done, now leave; I need time to form my plan.”

Megatron bowed again, almost mockingly this time “A pleasure to make your acquaintance bounty hunter.” He and his remaining guard then left.

The bot returned to his chair and watched as the two visitors left his hanger and returned to Cybertron. He had known of the savage nature of the Decepticon’s and their leader but the way he had flown into a fit of rage was unexpected, as were his orders. Attacking the capital of an army wasn’t as easy as Megatron had made it sound, he would need to do reconnaissance on the layout of the place, the defenses, and, most importantly, the commanders.

The robot knew of a place called _The archives_ that could have what he needed but it was currently controlled by the autobots; it’s control had changed hands multiple times during the war but now it seemed that the bots there and their commander Ironhide had finally won control back. Without much intelligence the mission would be risky but if he took too long to act, he might have to suffer through another audience with Megatron. “Get some men to clean up this mess and replace the crew.”

From behind him one of his soldiers responded, “Yes sir Lockdown.”

“And prepare a shuttle for my scouting party and I, set course to the Cybertron archives.”

With that Lockdown’s men fell back into their work like cogs in a grand machine. He took one last look at Cybertron before turning to take the elevator down. Now in the hanger he joined the group of small bots in their drop ship; the doors slid closed and the ship lifted off towards Cybertron.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As the Decepticons return to their home Lockdown and his soldiers begin their assault on the Archives; meanwhile Optimus Prime and the Autobots in Iacon recieve a distress signal.

**  
**Optimus Prime seemed to fly down the hallway. He stepped as quickly as he could while trying not to seem panicked to anyone he might pass. Only a few autobots were in the hall; everyone he passed gave him a salute or greeted him verbally, he gave each of them a quick nod but didn’t slow down. Every time he moved past one, he’d shift his body to get by. Prime was larger than most of the other autobots in his army, his mostly red chassis sported large cube like shoulders each sporting the autobot symbol. Like the decepticon’s, it resembled a face created from many different small shapes only less jagged and red.

Finally, at the end of the hallway Prime stepped through a door into a room soaked in blue electronic light. All around the massive room were autobots on tablets and computer consoles. The tall ceiling showed off two more levels of similar builds and in the rooms, center was a large digital model of the planet Cybertron. Focusing to the base of the hologram Optimus noticed two bots waving towards him. One stood about as tall as the rest with a red and white color scheme. Medical symbols on his shoulders identified him clearly as Ratchet, Optimus’s friend and second in command. The other bot was much shorter than Ratchet and Optimus, his body was entirely yellow and two small spikes topped his head. Optimus stepped forward and addressed them both as calmly as he could “Bumblebee, Ratchet; where is Perceptor.”  
As if on cue a voice came from the other side of the holographic globe “Over here Optimus.”  
Traveling on a small metal piece of tile another autobot hovered over. This one resembled Optimus’ height but instead of large shoulders this bot had a wide chest piece. He was mostly red with stripes of black and hints of blue, Optimus acknowledged the new arrival “Perceptor.”

“I see you all received my message, please step forward.” Without looking up from the small tablet in his arms Perceptor motioned all three autobots forward onto identical floating tiles he was controlling. Both Ratchet and Optimus moved forward immediately; behind them Bumblebee took his steps much more carefully, unfamiliar with Perceptor’s inventions. All at once the tiles rose up and followed Perceptor as if tied together by string. “We received a short distress signal from Ironhide at the archives.” Everyone watched as a small blip appeared over the globe to represent the archives. “Well did you try contacting him back?”

Perceptor turned towards Bumblebee, the scout’s eyes glued to the little blip. “Yes but it seems communications are down, this could be Megatron attempting to regain control of the archives.”  
Optimus stared in silence as Ratchet and continued to throw questions and suggestions at him, Ratchet piped up first “Let them have the archives, we’ve lost too many good soldiers to it.”

“But Ratchet, Ironhide’s there; we gotta try something.”

“Ironhide wouldn’t allow himself to be captured, not without a fight.”  
As both bots continued to speak back and forth an alarm sounded causing red light. Perceptor returned to his tablet typing on it quickly. The large model of Cybertron spun to show Iacon, the very city they were currently in. Outside of the city limits a small model of an autobot drop ship appeared moving towards the city. Now everyone in the room was focused in on the cause of the alarm. “Is that one of our ships” Ratchet asked.

“It appears so, and the it seems like it’s arriving from the archives.”

“Great, it’s got to be Ironhide and the others!”  
Optimus moved forward “In only one craft?

The room fell silent as the drop ship continued to move forward. Slowly it dawned on everyone in the room that the autoboot ship moving towards their capitol could be the beginning of a Decepticon assault. Dread washed through the room next, but before anyone could panic or rush to their battle stations Optimus stepped forward calmly and with his head held high “Perceptor, open a channel to the ships speaker.”

Without a word Perceptor nodded and went to work on his tablet. After a few moments of silent he gave Optimus a two-finger point.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wanted to do something special for Friday the 13th so here's chapter 2 ahead of the schedule I technically dont have yet, plus another one after this, and maybe another, idk, I've been doing a lot of writing lately.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After a successful attack on the Archives some of Lockdown's men, in a stolen Autobot ship, travel to Iacon with a prisoner.

Bracket sat in the back of the stolen drop ship; they’d arrive at Iacon any moment now. He took another glance over at the prisoner. Lockdown had said the Autobot was called Ironhide; apparently, he was really chummy with the leader of his faction. During the attack on the Archives the bot had put up a good fight, but nothing Lockdown Bracket and the others couldn’t handle; Bracket smirked, if all the Autobot’s greatest warriors were as “effective” as Ironhide this job was going to be easy “How we lookin” Bracket shouted to the two bots in the front of the ship.  
“Iacon’s straight ahead. No sign of Autobots.”  
Bracket smirked again and noticed Ironhide begging to wake up. Bracket stood up from one of the chairs in the drop ship and approached the solider “Well, look who’s awake, how we feelin Autobot?”  
Ironhide struggled against the electric bind around him to no avail. Bracket chuckled at his attempts to escape. Ironhide stopped struggling and felt a smile creep across his face, he started laughing along with Bracket “What’s so funny?”  
Ironhide continued laughing, now a little uncontrollably “I gotta hand it to Megatron, he really loves those archives.”  
“You got it all wrong buddy, the archives mean nothing, and we’re not with Megatron.”  
Ironhide lifted his head to look at Bracket. Just like the bots that had sneak attacked him at the archive this one was clad in black metal plates with dots of green. It was possible he was telling the truth, none of Megatron’s men resembled this kind of soldier or fought like him and the others. Ironhide looked around the ship; besides the soldier in front of him it looked like the only other occupants were two more black clad bots manning the two pilot seats. He caught a glimpse of the drop ships front window and the view outside, Iacon. Ironhide felt ill, like part of his chassis had sunk to the floor; Bracket, taking notice, knelt down next to Ironhide and whispered “That’s right, we’re bringing you back home autobot. Hopefully your boss will be home so he can come collect you.”  
Just then the plane’s loudspeaker came to life, static ringing through the small interior. A voice cracked through the noise and in a low clear tone it spoke “To the Autobot transport nearing Iacon, this is Optimus Prime; state your business.”  
Bracket looked up to the cockpit to see his teammates fiddling with nobs and dials on the console. No way they could contact the leader of the Autobots, if their prisoner didn’t squeal then there was an equally strong chance their voices would give them away. Just as Bracket rushed to try and suggest something to his team, he felt a sharp pain in the side of his head. Ironhide and headbutted him best he could as he had still been kneeling down. Bracket fell on his side hissing in pain and anger. Ironhide rose to his feet slowly and moved towards the cockpit. One of the soldiers turned thinking he’d greet Bracket but once he saw Ironhide his eyes widened, and he raised his arm. Ironhide broke into a sprint to cover the extra few moments between him and the door. He did his best to shoulder charge the bot in his restraints sending them both into the console of the ship and sending the plane itself dipping towards the ground. Ironhide was quickly pulled off by the plane’s piolet but Ironhide rocked his head backwards catching the bot in the face with a loud clang. The first bot recovered quickly and reached for Ironhide’s neck begging to choke him.   
Bracket had managed to shake off the dizziness and was now turning his attention to where his prisoner used to be. He then looked towards the front of the drop ship to see Ironhide and a soldier tussling. Ironhide still had the bot’s hands around his throat but he had the bot pinned against the controls and was repeatedly stepping back and slamming him forward. Bracket raised his arm shakily and waited as his hands and forearm folded away to reveal a small gun. He fired three short bursts into the cockpit aiming for Ironhide, but both bots had tumbled out of the way leaving the plane controls exposed to the laser bolts. The computer panel sparked, and bits of orange flame were spat out. Now the steady descent became a free fall. All the ships occupants began to tumble as the ship spun lifelessly towards the ground finally crashing upside down, both wings snapping away.  
Bracket woke in pain, he had fallen again, when he tried to get up his side screeched in pain causing him to reach for it. He lay back slightly resting against one of the walls of the interior. The inside of the ship was dark now and nothing could be heard but a faint cutting. Bracket tried to shake off the last bits of a headache as the buzz grew louder; eventually he heard a muffled voice “Hurry Ratchet.”  
This gave Bracket a start, that was the same voice that had activated the drop ships comm system, Optimus Prime. Bracket tried his best to ready himself. He looked around the dark ship until he saw it, a faint orange glow where someone had been cutting into the ship with some sort of torch or weapon, that would be their entry point. Bracket lifted his arm and it folded away again, this time protruding and producing a small rocket launcher; if he was going to die, he was going to take everyone with him. The cutting stopped suddenly and there was the sound of stomping as the bots outside attempted to complete their entrance. Finally, the weak wall gave way and the light from outside flooded in. Bracket squinted but kept his arm aimed at the hole. A bot stepped forward, he was big, red and blue with his own weapon ready. Bracket prepared to fire but was kicked in the side of the head. He fell back to the floor on his back with a groan. Through the pain he managed to open his eyes and see Ironhide looking down at him. The bot was beaten and bruised but he was also free of his restrains, he lifted his large metal foot and smirked “Thanks for the ride home” he then lowered his foot right onto Bracket.  
Ratchet stepped through after Optimus, just in time to see Ironhide shaking bits of metal off his foot. He turned and greeted his friends with a smile, but all Ratchet could focus on were his injuries. Ironhide’s bodies was scraped, cut, and dented, more so than usual “What took you guys so long” he asked jokingly. Ratchet rolled his eyes and stepped forward with a large syringe filled with glowing blue and orange liquid “This should stabilize you for now, at least until we can get you to the med bay.”  
Ironhide winced as the Ratchet injected him but quickly gave a sigh and began stretching his arms and rolling his neck “Med bay, heck I’m feelin better already.”  
“Either way, you should allow Ratchet to treat you properly Ironhide.” Optimus stepped forward and carefully placing a hand on his friends’ shoulder “It’s good to see you safe old friend.”  
Ironhide accepted the moment of peace but quickly shook free of Optimus and groaned “Too bad it’s only me you’re seein.”  
There was a moment of silence between the three Autobots for their fallen soldiers then Ratchet spoke up “Ironhide, what happened at the archives exactly?”  
Ironhide gave another deep sigh and turned back to the medic “I’m not really sure.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After rescuing Ironhide from Lockdown's soldiers the Autobots take a breather and try to figure out what's happening.

Back in Ratchet’s infirmary Ironhide sat restlessly on an examination table while Ratchet ran back and forth around the room. Every once in a while, Ratchet would come by with a handheld flashlight to shine in Ironhide’s face or some sort of scanner. Optimus stood off to the side out of Ratchet’s way as Ironhide slowly told him everything he could remember “They must have come in through one of the regular entrances, got by my men somehow. They stuck to shadows and only stepped out to catch us off guard.” Ironhide began to squirm the more he spoke.

“There were maybe four or five of them and their boss, this big gangly bot; never said or word, barely made a sound.” Ironhide fell silent for a few moments.

Optimus pushed himself off the wall “That’s all you remember?”

“That’s all there is to tell, they stomped us Prime, we got beat!”

Ratchet rushed back in front of Ironhide with another strange tool “Calm down, the more you flail around the longer my tests will take.”

“I’m fine, I don’t need all this; what I need is to get back out there and find these guys.”

Optimus stepped closer to Ironhide “You’ll have your chance Ironhide, but first we need to know what we’re dealing with.”

As if on cue, the door to the infirmary slid open and Bumblebee came in followed by another short Autobot; he was mostly white and gray with a few bits of black armor. His helmet consisted of a black head with a silver visor. Optimus turned to greet his friends “Bumblebee, Jazz.”

Jazz gave a small smile and a wave and Bumblebee stepped up to the bots at the observation table “Perceptor’s ready for you Optimus.” Prime nodded and followed Bumblebee and Jazz down the hall to Perceptor’s autopsy room.

As they walked by more Autobots were running back and forth working. After the crash outside of Iacon everyone was on high alert. While no one outside of Optimus’s circle of allies knew what had happened there were rumors and whispers spreading. Optimus tried to ignore it; trying to stop the rumors would take too much time, if they hurried, they could get ahead of them and stop whatever had happened at the archives.

Once they reached Perceptor’s room the door slid open to reveal a robot on an operating table without its head. Perceptor greeted the three bots and quickly turned back to the body “I’ve managed to recover the secondary data chip but not the first, if the subjects head was still intact this would be much easier.”

“Ironhide didn’t really have time to delicate Perceptor” Optimus said.

“I understand, it’s just made my job a bit harder.”

“What does it matter if his head was intact” Bumblebee chirped

“Well a Cybertronians head contains the primary data chip, it tracks things like information that’s been recently added, previous locations, etcetera.”

“We already know where he came from Perceptor, this was one of the bots from the archives” Jazz said

“Yes, he _was_ at the archives, but what about before that?”

Optimus folded his arms “Ironhide had said that these bots were not Decepticons, if that’s the case they may be from somewhere besides Cybertron.”

Optimus stepped towards the body and tapped a small release button hidden under some of the metal plates. The panels of the body’s chest slid away revealing a large orb that was glowing faintly with bright green light. Optimus reached for the orb and began to carefully twist it left and right until it came loose. Everyone in the room watched in silence as Optimus lifted the spark of the bot from the body. Perceptor spoke up first “Optimus, there’s nothing in this facility that can analyze a spark.”

“You are correct, but I know of somewhere where we can.”

Perceptor grabbed a small metal container for Optimus to place the spark in as Optimus began to explain. “The core of Cybertron can tell me the origin of this solider, assuming Primus will have audience with me.”

“You sure that’s a good idea Prime, that place isn’t exactly populated by Decepticons but it aint secure either.” Optimus turned towards Jazz and nodded in response “Then I’ll need someone to accompany me on the journey.”

Jazz nodded in acknowledgment and left to prepare a shuttle. Optimus then turned to Bumblebee and Perceptor “In the event that Primus can’t help us we need another way to find out where this bot came from.”

Bumblebee stepped forward immediately “Well if he isn’t a Decepticon is it possible he came from somewhere else, like outside of Cybertron?”

Perceptor perked up “IF that were the case, he must have arrived by space craft, but the equipment here hasn’t picked up anything recently.”

“Then we need to expand our range” Optimus said returning to his previous stance.

“What about the satellite in the Omalan ridge, last me and the other scouts checked it was abandoned.”

Optimus nodded in response “Alright Bumblebee; you and Perceptor will head to the array, bring Warpath and some Autobots with you, and be careful.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is bit light on action or bombastic events, sorry, might upload five right away to make up for it.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Autobots begin their assault on the Omalan ridge array, however their movements have not gone unnoticed by some.

In one of Iacons makeshift hangers Perceptor, Jazz, and Ratchet were waiting for Optimus. Jazz had prepared one of the Autobot drop ships for he and Prime to journey to the core of the planet. Perceptor handed Optimus a large silver backpack “It’s only a prototype so be careful, hopefully it will make the trip faster.”

Optimus accepted the pack with a nod of thanks and approval. He looked around for a moment trying to find Bumblebee. According to Ratchet he had gone to find Warpath who had insisted on giving his men a lengthy plan before they left. Jazz and Optimus boarded their ship and flew off towards Cybertron’s core; the trip would take a few hours; no doubt Bumblebee and the others would be done at the array before them. After a few minutes Warpath arrived with his soldiers and the little yellow scout in tow. Warpath was a large bot like many of the commanders in the Autobot army. His body was plated head to foot in thick bright red armor. Like Jazz he sported a visor in place of two glowing eyes and at the center of his chest was a large grey metallic tank barrel, a hint at his alternate form. With a strong slap of Ratchet’s back, he addressed him “Crew is prepped and ready to go!”

“Excellent, begin loading them onto the transports, we have to hurry.” With that Perceptor stepped onto one of the drop ships; Bumblebee and Warpath joined him with some of the troops, the remaining soldiers loaded onto a second ship and the doors slid closed. The engines of the drop ship roared to life and left the hanger heading in the opposite direction of Optimus and Jazz.

**. . .**

In the Decepticon capital of Kaon the scientist Shockwave was reading through notes from his past experiments. His lab was dark with the soft purple glow of different computers illuminating things enough for him to work. The bot stood almost as tall as his leader, but his appearance was striking for very different reasons. His slender legs and feet seemed to belong to a seeker, a Cybertronian who could easily fly through the air and transform into a jet, but his torso was a wide bulky triangle. The insignia of the Decepticons sat in the center of his chest between his two large spiked shoulders which led down to smaller intricate hands; perfect for his work. The ghastliest piece of Shockwave’s appearance was his head. While some bots sported face plates and visors or mouths and eyes, Shockwave’s head resembled a camera; no face, no other features beside a single large purple eye with two silver spikes on either side of his head. Altogether Shockwave looked like a Frankenstein experiment, which surprisingly fit the Decepticon’s role in Megatron’s army. Day after day Shockwave would experiment with energon, weapons, and even living subjects. He was responsible for many of the great advancements the Decepticons used such as the Constructicons Megatron’s arm cannon, and Soundwaves small helpers.

As Shockwave slid one file to the side a prepared another one, he received a notification on one of his monitors. Apparently, a ship had flown past one of his sensors into the Omalan ridge. Both the Decepticons and the Autobots were limited in their numbers so Shockwave had done his best to cover Cybertron in sensors so that even when the Decepticons could not physically occupy an area of the planet, they’d have eyes on it. For the most part they had never been found by Autobots, so they came in handy. Shockwave quickly tapped on the notification and confirmed the alarm. From what his sensor had picked up two ships were flying towards the satellite array. There was a chance this was Megatron’s new “asset” but there was also the chance the Autobots were after something at the array. Not wanting to abandon his work currently Shockwave sent a quick message to his associate Soundwave asking him to send one of his spies to investigate the array. After a few minutes Shockwave received a response and returned to his work as if nothing had happened.

Laserbeak took no time reaching the Omalan ridge. The little bot was swift enough to reach the array in half the time of any Seeker and it was so tiny that there was no risk of being noticed by anything. Once at the array the small bird like spy focused in. The array was built like a circle with most of the facility lying under the cool metal rich earth. The only clear indicators of the location’s existence were the tops of the facility forming a circle in the ground and the gigantic Satellite dish in the center. At first Laserbeak did not see any activity, not even any residual smoke trails from ships. Then from behind the little Decepticon came two Autobot drop ships.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Warpath and the others arrive at the Omalan array only to be intercepted but Lockdown.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So work really hit me hard this weekend and I totally forgot to post on Saturday, sorrry. Good news is there's nobody here reading to be mad at me, enjoy.

Warpath left the drop ship first, landing from a short fall with loud slam. Behind him two of his Autobots and Bumblebee fell with a similar sound “Alright; Bee, take two of the bots with you and Perceptor into the facility, everyone else move out and secure the area!” Without a word the Autobots split into groups. Laserbeak immediately began broadcasting everything back to Soundwave.

Once inside the array Perceptor and Bumblebee were greeted by a large empty interior. The walls were lined with pipes and jagged features, the entire hall was bathed in red light. Bumblebee stepped in front of everyone “Well this a little scary, I’ll go ahead and make sure it’s okay.” With that he activated a light on his forearm and proceeded down the hall with the others behind him. As they went Perceptor got to work on his tablet trying to find the layout for the array. Once he had it he identified the door they had come through “It appears that if we continue down this hall we’ll reach the satellites main terminal.”

“Perfect, the sooner we get out of here the better” said Bumblebee nervously.

They continued down the hall until they came to another door. Unlike the ones in Iacon this door did not immediately slide open, either the power was out or it was broken. Bumblebee had two of the bots with them begin to cut away at the door, meanwhile he and Perceptor continued going over the blueprints “Once we get to the terminal how much time do you think you’ll need?”

“Hard to say, until I can see what the facilities operating systems are like I cant be sure.”

As the Autobots finished cutting through the door there was a dull boom followed by a louder one that shook some dust from the ceiling above them. In a panic Bumblebee began springing back down the hall, he turned back quickly and shouted, “You all stay with Perceptor!”

He then turned back down the hall and increased speed, as the end of the hall came into view Bumblebee launched himself forward and began to transform. Rolling shoulder first into the ground his legs and arms folded over him and wheels feel into place accelerating his speed. Once he reached the door it slid open automatically and he sped right through ramping off a small pile of rock. As he fell, he transformed back into his robot form and landed. When Bee raised his head, he saw Warpath and his fellow Autobots fighting a group of bots clad in black metal and green lights, just like the ones that had attacked Ironhide. From over his head a large drop ship matching the color scheme of the new adversaries flew by. Bots began jumping from it and running towards Warpath and the others. Using this to his advantage Bumblebee broke into a sprint again producing a small sword from his arm and began slashing away at the bots. The first went down easily, with one slice to his back and then a stab right into his shoulder. Bee lost speed but kept going for another. He quickly dropped into a slide tripping the bot up and turning to stab him directly in the chest. With a groan and a few sparks of electricity the second bot fell silent. Now they were begging to notice Bumblebee, one shouted “There’s another one” and immediately he was being fired at. Bumblebee retracted his sword and transformed his arm into a small automatic blaster. Running for the other Autobots he fired blindly catching a few of the black bots in the chest or the shoulder. Before he could reach Warpath and the others an explosion through Bumblebee off his balance and sent him face first into the ground. He winced in pain and rolled over only to see two more drop ships moving over the array, then two more of the bots followed by a taller thinner figure moved into his view.

Lockdown looked at the small yellow Autobot bellow him. If the information, he had stolen was trustworthy this was one of Optimus Prime’s close friends “Restrain him” he said flatly. Right away the two bots on either side of Lockdown stepped forward and grabbed the scout by his arms. Still dazed from the explosion and the fall he could barely fight back. Lockdown continued walking towards his target, a large red Autobot who was very successfully dealing with his men. It was interesting watching the soldier fight, no weapon in hand he was simply dodging every attack and punching his men with his fists. As Lockdown moved closer, he noticed a slab of silver metal covered each fist, that was his secret. Eventually the red bot had worked through most of the soldiers focused on him, he’d see Lockdown soon enough but to Lockdown’s surprise another Autobot called out from the side “Warpath, lookout!”

Lockdown turned in time to catch the bladed arm of an Autobot that had been sprinting at him. The Autobot struggled to finish his strike then after a moment he began to panic and tried to pull away from the clash. Lockdown began to smirk slightly at the bot’s helpless struggle. He twisted the blade and the rest of the Autobot’s arm with it. The Autobot let out a scream that was quickly silenced by Lockdown grabbing him by the face and squeezing. He continued to tighten his grip until the metal that made up the soldier’s face began to crunch and crumble beneath his hand, after a few more seconds the bots whole head caved in and Lockdown loosened his grip all at once. Shaking his hand free of any metal and mess Lockdown didn’t notice the small yellow scout from earlier coming towards him. The bot jumped and kicked into Lockdown’s back sending him off his feet, he then planted his second foot to push off Lockdown sending him into the ground “How about a taste of your own medicine” the little soldier shouted. Lockdown quickly lifted himself from the ground and turned catching the scout’s foot before it had kicked him in the side of his head. With all his strength Lockdown pushed the foot away and stood back up to grab the scouts head. From his side Lockdown felt a large weight knock him back off his feet. He could only turn his head slightly to see that the large red bot he had been walking towards earlier had tackled him. Both of them fell to the dirt; Lockdown on his back with the red bot on top, one arm on his chest and the other cocked back ready to place Lockdown’s head further into the ground. The giant red Autobot threw his punch and Lockdown caught it with an open palm, as he strained to hold his arm in place Lockdown stretched out his free hand and produced a large jagged hook. He reached up and grabbed for a chink in the armor near Warpath’s shoulder. Grabbing hold he then pulled the Autobot over his head and turned to watch him tumble across the ground, kicking up dust as he went. Lockdown took a moment to catch his breath, something he didn’t think he’d need to do till he faced Prime. He was aware of the scout behind him, possibly waiting for his fellow Autobot to recover from the fall he’d taken. Lockdown allowed his hook to slide back into his arm and produced a large cylinder with circles cut into it at random areas. From his side Lockdown produced a smaller cylinder and slid it into a hole in his arm. As the cylinder heated in his arm, he aimed it at the little scout and prepared to fire. Instinctively the scout jumped away from his current position, but Lockdown held his fire and pointed slightly to his right where the bot would land. Lockdown fire sending out a large orange ball of heated metal, the explosion kicked dirt and dust everywhere and sent the little scout flying in the other direction. Losing sight of the scout Lockdown prepared another cylinder and took aim at the satellite itself. Before he could fire, he heard the sound of a small rocket, not seeing anything coming towards him or near his men, still fighting the other Autobots, Lockdown looked up to see a small rectangular object fly into one of his drop ships hovering overhead. The plane erupted in an explosion of fire and metal. Lockdown dodged a few pieces of debris and continued to run watching as many of the other broke up their fights to avoid the same raining metal and fire. Once he was clear of the field and standing under the satellite, he turned towards the sound of his troops screaming. Through the clouds of smoke and dust the debris had kicked up Lockdown could barely make out a single Autobot running towards a group of his soldiers.  



	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Optimus Prime joins the battle against the Lockdown at the array.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This has been on ice for a while, on accident. I'm gonna try and finish it before diving into my other stuff, enjoy

Optimus brandished his axe, a large jagged, heated blade on a long staff; he cut through one of the mysterious attackers causing him to fall limply to the ground in two. Another bot took notice of him and began to fire, Prime only had time to raise his arms to block the shots, he tried to increase his speed and roared as the heated bolts seared his armor and obscured his vision. He rammed his shoulder into the solider knocking him to the ground. The bot raised his hands as Optimus raised his axe only to have a much heftier blast blow him off his feet away from his engagement. Prime tumbled and kicked up dirt as he tried to right himself. Finally landing in a slide Prime grabbed at his chest where a black mark was still sizzling. He noticed he’d lost his axe in the sneak attack and turned to where it had landed, flatly in the dirt; a slender food stepped over it. Optimus looked up at the bot moving towards him, he gave the bot Prime had knocked down a small motion to leave and gave the same movement to a few other black soldiers who tried to join their master as he slowly stepped towards Optimus.

Prime rose to his feet, making sure not to break eye contact with the new adversary, now within earshot of one another the bot gave a small smirk and spoke “I must say I’m impressed, your forces are much more capable then I was led to believe.”

Optimus stood his ground, not moving or speaking. This was defiantly the leader of the bots, but to think that all he had learned could be true, it felt impossible. The bot began to walk again, this time pacing back and forth in front of Optimus as the battle continued all around them “_You_ impress me most of all, my employer spoke very highly of you; I’d almost think you were friends”

The only person he could be talking about was Megatron, Optimus felt the urge to respond but held his voice back as the bot continued to pace. Suddenly he stopped and tilted his head in confusion “He didn’t mention you were a mute, in fact from what I heard you were quite the talker” he said with a smirk at then end. Optimus narrowed his eyes and weighed his options; speaking to this bot, saying anything, could give him some sort of upper hand. Optimus took the risk and spoke “Call off your soldiers, no one else has to die today.”

The bot gave a shrill laugh “You finally open your mouth and that’s all you have to say?!”

The bot began pacing again and shaking his head “This isn’t right, you’re supposed to _Optimus Prime_, leader of the Autobot resistance, wielder of the Matrix; but your more of a dolt than your men” Lockdown’s brow dropped in anger “I’ve bested your men and your commanders, I’ve taken the archives in a less time than either of you fools could, and I have soldiers to spare.”

Optimus watched the bot as he growled and spat out his recent accomplishments. He also noticed as his hand began to transform back into a grenade launcher. Prime readied for an attack and was surprised when he turned his arm away and fired without looking. Prime heard a large explosion and looked over to watch the array’s satellite falling to pieces, a small plume of smoke and fire rose from where Lockdown’s shell had hit. Before Prime could make a response, Lockdown had closed the distance between them and kicked him square in the chest. Prime tumbled and then caught himself on one knee, he pulled his arm up and fired quickly at the bot. He shrugged off two shots and dodged a third; Optimus adjusted his aim and fired at the ground causing Lockdown to shield his eyes. Prime took the chance and rammed Lockdown and readied his weapon to fire again. Lockdown had caught himself similarly to Optimus, but he didn’t rise, he just laughed.

Lockdown wiped his jaw and looked at the bit of energon on his hand. He laughed and looked back up at the towering Autobot “That’s more like it” he tapped a small button on his arm causing it to begin emitting a dim green light. Getting up he brushed himself off a bit, taking his eyes off Optimus. Prime held his fire, watching the bot return to a more relaxed stance as if they weren’t in the middle of a fight “You’ve convinced me Prime, you’re just as interesting as I’d hoped” he began to step away and Optimus readjusted his aim “While you’re still not as heroic and grand as I read about I’m beginning to see it, I think all you need is the right _motivation_.”

Another of Lockdown’s dropships hovered down behind him, the door slid open and he began to board it “I think a full-scale assault on Iacon will suffice, what do you think?”

With a twinge of anger Optimus began to fire at Lockdown. The blast doors of the dropship slid closed blocking the shots and sending sparks everywhere. As the ship gained altitude Optimus fired three more times before giving up and letting the blaster fall to his side. The ship blasted away followed by a few others. Once they were out of sight Optimus looked back down to the field, there were scorch marks and fire everywhere. Bots helped one another to their feet, A medic was tending to a dazed Bumblebee, Perceptor was on the radio with someone. Optimus felt faint, the bounty hunter had escaped, he had played with Optimus and now they wouldn’t be able to know where he was; at least he now knew _who_ he was.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Megatron and Lockdown have another meeting

Megatron and his inner circle all stood around the small room they had gathered in. Laserbeak had streamed back every bit of the battle between Lockdown and the Autobots, however there had been no audio. Megatron sat in his throne lost in thought; when Lockdown had engaged with Prime it seemed like they talked more then they traded blows. What had he said, did he reveal anything, why was Prime there to begin with, he could have sent any of his lackeys to the array; instead he had sent three and then arrived himself? Though Lockdown had brought down the satellite it was possible he and is soldiers were already compromised “It would seem your bounty hunter isn’t proving as effective as you thought _lord _Megatron.”

Megatron turned his head slightly towards the snide voice of his seeker commander, Starscream. The bot stood to the side next to some of Megatron’s other trusted soldiers with his arms folded. To the Seeker’s left a bot slapped his shoulder forcing him to stumble out of his stance “Watch it Starscream, Megatron may not be in the mood for you today.”

Starscream smirked at the tall brutish bot. He couldn’t see any sort of expression past his face plate and purple visor, but he could almost picture a growling maw “Calm down Brawl, I’m sure our illustrious leader can speak for himself.”

“Well maybe _I’m_ not in the mood either” the tall tank said, turning his entire body to stare down Starscream.

“Enough, both of you” Megatron said raising his hand from the arm of his chair slowly “Starscream is correct.”

The room fell silent, Starscream’s mouth fell open “I…I am?”

“Yes Starscream, it would appear so, for the first time in a millennium” Megatron laughed to himself for a moment “Lockdown’s attempts to take care of the Autobots have been sloppy, far from what I expected.”

Everyone looked to their leader as he rose from his throne and approached the edge of the room where a large window stood in place of a wall. Megatron looked out over Kaon; seekers flew by, small blips of purple marked hundreds of Decepticons moving through the city “I was fool to think someone besides us could defeat the Autobots” he turned back to his soldiers now listening intently “To think that anyone but _I_ could take Cybertron.”

His soldiers began to nod in response to Megatron’s growing intensity “We are Decepticons; conquerors, gladiators, warriors!”

Everyone began to clap and cheer, Starscream began to shrink backwards out of sight as Megatron continued “We do not need petty bounty hunters to destroy our enemies or take what is rightfully ours!”

“No” they all scream in response.

“We do not need reconnaissance; we do not need strategy; all we need do is march on Iacon and _take_ it for our own!”

“Yeah!”

Megatron smiled at the infectious rage he had spread to his followers. He pointed directly at his spymaster “Soundwave, contact Lockdown.”

Soundwave nodded and moved to a computer, with a few taps of the keyboard the view of Kaon seemed to turn black and screen buzzed to life. Everyone stared at the screen as it continued. The screen cleared slowly, and the static was replaced by Lockdown’s ornate face. Megatron gave a small smile “Lockdown, I’m calling to congratulate you on your work at the array” Lockdown stared silently, not blinking or taking his eyes off Megatron “I’m also calling with unfortunate news.”

At this Lockdown raised an eyebrow slightly, Megatron couldn’t help but smirk at this “Your attack on the Archives, the destruction of the Array’s satellite; the damage your causing is quite intense wouldn’t you agree?”

“The damage I cause is minimal compared to what a battle between you and Prime would cause” he spat back.

Megatron laughed “Then there is the matter of you _fraternizing_ with the enemy” Megatron began to pace back and forth, arms behind his back “I did not pay you to chat with the Autobots, I payed you to attack Iacon.”

“An attack on the capitol city of an army is not as simple as charging the gates, _lord_ Megatron” Megatron’s pace was interrupted for a second, Lockdown seemed to take notice as he continued speaking “ I understand that years of mindless battle in the gladiatorial pits may have damaged your mind more then your body, but to win a war you must do more than fight.”

“Really, then what would you call what I’ve been doing?”

“Childlike spats” Megatron stopped pacing now and looked at the bot on the screen. He felt his anger bubbling up again, but he quickly dispelled it and spoke again “A difference of opinion I suppose, either way I no longer need you or your men.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes, you may keep your payment of course; I just feel _I_ should be the one to take Iacon, my way.”

There was a moment of silence as both bots stated each other down, Lockdown broke the silence with a slight laugh and a smile “I understand completely.”

“Really?”

“Of course, the feeling of conquering an adversary from a far is not as satisfying as felling them with your own two hands.”

“I’m glad you understand” Megatron said, offering one last defiant bow before pointing to Soundwave, but before he could speak Lockdown spoke up “However I believe I will still make my assault on Iacon.”

Megatron’s expression fell and he turned back to face the screen, Lockdown was smiling devilishly “Optimus Prime and his band of fools have proven more… interesting then I originally expected.”

“If you intend to stay, and try to take _my_ victory, I will be forced to fight you too bounty hunter.”

“Is that supposed to scare me Megatron?”  
“Cybertron is mine Lockdown, any attempt to take it will be met with conflict, just ask Prime.”

“Oh, I intend speak with Optimus again, about a number of things in fact.”

“I look forward to being there when you do” Megatron laughed in mix of anger and enjoyment, whatever game Lockdown was playing he found amusing. Lockdown looked back at Megatron flatly “I do not.”

Suddenly there was a strange hum from outside the observatory. A few of Megatron’s soldiers took notice but Megatron continued to stare at Lockdown as he smiled and continued to speak “I’m afraid this will be the last time we speak Megatron, with our contract ended and our goals now clashing I’m afraid you’ve become more of an adversary then an ally.”

Soundwave disengaged the screens returning the windows to their previous state and revealing four hovering seeker bots. Each was a deep black color with small hints of green light. While his face was no longer video the call with Lockdown had not ended and his laughter began to fill the room. Megatron felt his rage growing as he stared at the small group of ships, clutching his fists he spoke to Lockdown, though he still couldn’t see him “What happened to the satisfaction of _facing _an adversary Lockdown?”

“Oh Megatron, I don’t see you as an _adversary,_ you’re just a nuisance, whether you realize it or not” The seekers outside armed their weapons, exposing the barrels of laser blasters and sliding away panels of armor to reveal rows of small rockets “Goodbye Megatron” The communications cut and the ships opened fire. The glass gave way immediately, melting and shattering against the force of the lasers. After a few bursts of laser fire each seeker would release two or three rockets. The explosions blew the rest of the glass away and began tearing the walls and floor apart. Before long the view of the Decepticons inside the tower was obscured by the smoke rising into the air. The seekers continued to fire rockets and lasers into the curtain of black smoke. With one more barrage of rockets the seekers blasted the tower then turned and shot off away from Kaon, slowly rising into space and out of sight.

Hours later, as the sun began to set on Kaon the ruins of Megatron’s observatory began to stir. Soundwave was the first to rise from the rubble, he was followed by Brawl and some of the Combaticons, then Starscream. Each of them looked around for Megatron. As the search continued to turn up nothing Soundwave let Laserbeak loose to scan more of the rubble, Brawl and his soldiers turned over chunks of metal with more and more anger, and Starscream found it hard not to sneer at the apparent demise of their leader. Just as it seemed the search was over a small bit of metal shuddered. Brawl rushed over to knock slab out of the way and help Megatron out. His hand was quickly pushed away as Megatron slowly rose out of the pile letting bits of metal and soot sliding off his body. Everyone watched as their leader stared wordlessly up into the starts “Soundwave, I need you and Shockwave to prepare an EMP device for me” Soundwave gave a low bow before leaving the remains of the observatory “Brawl, prepare the combaticons for battle and have three drop ships filled with decepticons.”

Brawl gave a salute and moved off with the rest of the combaticons. Starscream waited for Megatron to shout at him or give him instructions but his attention didn’t shift from the sky. Starscream took his leave carefully and quietly. Megatron stood in the smoking remains of the building for a few moments more, clenching his fists tightly and looking off into the sky, where Lockdown was waiting.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lockdown prepares to attack Iacon

On Lockdown’s ship he sat in his throne overlooking Cybertron. This little campaign had cost him more then he’d expected in terms of men, but in a few hours his ship would be hovering over Iacon and he could begin his assault on the autobots. Hopefully Prime’s bravery would hold fast and he wouldn’t hold himself up in some insurmountable tower. The plans of attack would be simple; while the Archives did not provide an exact number as to Optimus’ army it did have records on all his lieutenants, which Lockdown had memorized, along with the kind of weaponry each soldier had. After crunching the numbers and testing a few tactics at the array Lockdown was sure he would be able to take the city within a day.

His only problem _had_ been Megatron. The raging beast would have insisted on joining the attack on Iacon sooner or later, Lockdown was sure of it. When he had received the transmission the seekers had already been dispatched to assassinate the Decepticon leader, the call was simply a cruel twist of fate for the gladiator. Now that he was disposed of Lockdown could finish his job on Cybertron and move on to more interesting matters “How much longer till we’re in range?”

“Thirty more minutes sir” a solider barked back from his computer. Lockdown eased himself back in his chair and smiled, it was hard to believe he was here. All that he had heard of the Autobots and Decepticons, of their war, it had proven taxing yes but there would still be satisfaction with his victory. Suddenly the bridge shook violently and low rumble came from below. Lockdown pressed a few buttons on his throne and brought up the ship’s cameras. His eyes darted between each feed until he saw the hanger feed. There was a what appeared to be a large fire in the entryway of the hanger with unfamiliar troops running from the flames towards Lockdown’s own men “Decepticons.”

Lockdown rose from his chair immediately and pointed over to two of the soldiers at their stations “Both of you, with me” he then pointed to a third bot “ Send all available soldiers down to the main hanger!”

Everyone scattered with their orders and Lockdown made his way to the elevator at the back of the room. On his way down he popped his hook and began tracing his finger along the wicked edge. He had to admire how quickly the Decepticons had banded together and retaliated; he wondered if their new leader was a part of this little sneak attack or if they had a leader at all. As he lost himself in thought there was a large explosion above them. Lockdown heard the snapping of wires as the elevator came to a stop and began lurching downwards. Before he could act the last of the cables snapped and the large elevator room went into a free fall.

**. . .**

Megatron watched the elevator drop out of sight and heard it crash, he smiled and turned up to the towering monster “Excellent shot Bruiticus.”

The giant Decepticon gave a nod and then returned to stomping on Lockdown’s soldiers. Megatron watched as he stomped around. Of all Shockwave’s hellish creations Bruticus was Megatron’s favorite. The ability to combine some of his most brutal and vicious soldiers into a hulking titan, it was something not even Prime could beat. The sounds of charging reinforcements forced Megatron’s mind back into the battle. Three soldiers had broken the ranks and were coming towards him, Megatron blasted the one in the middle. He exploded into scrap and sent the other bots to the floor with the force of the blast. He stepped up to the soldiers grabbing one by the head and slamming him into the ground again and again until the contents of his head began to flatten against the floor of the hanger. In his blind joy Megatron didn’t notice the other bot recover until he had stabbed Megatron in the size. He knocked him away absently and pulled the small dagger from his arm. As the bot tried to recover from Megatron’s latest assault he was surprised by strong arm around his neck. Through pained squinted eyes the bot looked up at Megatron as he returned the knife into the bots face.

Megatron threw the lifeless corpse away and turned around only to catch a hook in his side. Megatron winced in pain and grabbed at the chain that was attached to the hook only for it to sharply retract and bring him onto his knees. Megatron looked up at Lockdown as he stepped forward silhouetted against the fires all around the hanger “You’re a difficult insect to kill” Megatron felt the yank of the chain again “But not impossible.”

“At least now you have to face me.”

“Was that your goal in coming here; the element of surprise, dead to the world and you come here because of some meaningless position as my adversary?”

Megatron simply smiled and produced a small cylinder from behind him. He gave the small red button on the top a soft tap and a large whirring ran through the hanger and reverberated through the rest of the ship. The lights in the hanger dimmed and were replaced by low green ones. Megatron smiled as Lockdown looked around in horror “What have you done!?”

Megatron gave a blinding headbutt to the bot forcing him to the ground. He then ripped the hook from his own chassis and began looping the chain around Lockdown’s neck. Once he had tied it off he began tightening it and placed one foot on the back of the bounty hunter “Did you really think you could beat me Lockdown” he began to cough and spasm “Since our first meeting all you’ve done is force my hand, believe me I would have rather talked this out but you seem set on forcing me to resort to violence.”

With this he lifted his foot and yanked Lockdown backwards sending him into the side of a burning ship “Clearly you do not respect me as Prime does so I will do to you what I did to any of the autobots or decepticons who thought themselves above me, I will _carve_ fear into your mind, the fear of my face, my voice, my ­_power_” He took the bot up by the throat and whispered to him “I am _Megatron_ fool, leader of the decepticons, conqueror of Cybertron, the only insect here is you, you and this _hive_ of weaklings.”

As Megatron spoke Lockdown summoned the last of his strength and plunged his other hook into Megatron shoulder. While he tried to ignore the pain he couldn’t help but clutch at his side and loosen his grip on Lockdown who kicked away. Before he could recover and wail on Megatron there was a loud thump that shook Lockdown, Megatron, and everyone else off their feet. After it had passed an even louder crash threw everyone in the hanger around violently, they had hit the surface of Cybertron.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lockdown has one last encounter with the Autobots, Decepticons, and their commanders

Optimus watched Perceptor’s holographic globe of Cybertron with intensity. The small model representing the star ship that had crashed down outside of Iacon’s walls stared back at him blinking softly. The shaking of the base had stopped and autobots were now returning to their stations, checking computers and helping one another back to their feet. Ratchet was shouting out orders over the radio with his finger pressed to his ear, trying to find out who was hurt and what medics were available. Perceptor was working with seekers to get eyes on the crash site, he had also sent out Jazz and Cliffjumper to check on the things at ground level but they hadn’t responded. Optimus took a deep breath and began to leave the room, Ratchet turned to him “Prime, where are you going?”

“To confront Lockdown, I’ll go alone.”

“Are you mad, who knows how many soldiers are onboard that ship” Ratchet came stomping towards his friend “Crash or no crash, you’ll probably be outnumbered.”

“Are you offering to come with me?”

“I suppose I am” Optimus nodded and placed his hand around his friends’ arm “Thank you Ratchet, but you’re needed here.”

With that Optimus left, Ratchet called after to him, but he didn’t stop this time. Prime knew he had to face Lockdown alone, him and whoever would be on that craft. He found his way to the nearest elevator and took it all the way down to the street level of Iacon. When the doors opened, he was hit with a cloud of dust. As he stepped out Optimus noticed that most of Iacon was being blanketed in dust, possibly kicked up from the crash. Further away Prime could make out the lights of fellow autobots running around. He tried to take a path with little activity and once he was mostly clear he transformed and rolled out towards Iacon’s nearest exit.

The drive to the crash was quiet. Occasionally there would be chatter over Optimus’ radio, either Perceptor trying to update him on the crash or Ratchet trying to make sure he was alright. When Prime finally cleared the terrain and dust he was surprised to find the ship mostly intact. It seemed to have landed on its side leaving a very smooth and featureless belly turned up to face Optimus. He narrowed his eyes at two figures close to the ship “Autobots” he shouted.

Both turned immediately in surprise and excitement at the sound of Prime’s voice. One, clad in red and resembling Bumblebee, waved while the other bot ran over to meet him “Small world huh” Jazz said offering a handshake, Optimus took it and gave one firm shake before moving towards the ship “So far we haven’t seen anything happen, we’ve been waiting for those seekers to arrive so we could direct them.”

“The dust kicked up by the crash must be halting their progress.”

“Well they’re not missing much” the other bot said with his arms folded “This thing seems deserted, not a sound.”

Optimus stared at the ships belly up close, the black paint felt so deep and endless. He ran his hand across it “We should make our way inside.”

Both bots gave him a confused expression. Cliff scratched the back of his head and Jazz spoke up “You sure that’s a good idea Prime, I mean we don’t know what’s in there.”

“Lockdown is in there.”

“Right, but that also means his army of well-trained troops is too.”

“Don’t think they’ll be ready to fight after a crash like that” Cliffjumper laughed tapping the side of the ship with his knuckles. As if on cue a much larger bang came from inside the ship. Cliff jumped backwards and Optimus and Jazz slowly stepped away as the banging continued. Eventually all the robots watched as the smooth black hull began to crunch and deform in large circular areas. The banging stopped and Optimus used the advantage to try and reach Perceptor “I need troops to my position immediately.”

Perceptor gave a quick reply and Optimus ended the transmission. The banging was now replaced by the sound of metal cutting metal. Jazz pointed out a small section of hull where orange sparks had begun spilling out. Optimus watched as the small trail glided across the hull then turned downward, slowly forming a very large rectangle. By now Optimus had readied his weapon and Autobots were arriving. There were two low thuds and the rectangle fell away slamming against the ground and throwing more dust into the air. Optimus peered through his hands as Bruticus stepped out slowly, he noticed one of his arms resting limply at his side, possibly a result of the crash. Once he had spotted the combaticon he wasn’t surprised to see Megatron stepping down the section of the hull, using it like a ramp. Behind him his soldiers limped and struggled to leave the ship and enter the light of the midday sun; even Megatron, the strong proud gladiator was stepping with a wince, every step slow and painful. Behind him he dragged a very damaged but still recognizable Lockdown, once he saw this Optimus began stepping forward. He didn’t even notice Jazz try to stop him, but he did offer a subtle motion for he and the other autobots not to move.

Megatron looked at his brother approach; he was mad, not at him though. It had been some time since they had come face to face and while it was not part of what he had planned it was a possibility. Both leaders met in the middle of their small armies. Wind blew softly and little sound came from either side. Eventually Megatron pulled Lockdown forward and tossed him into the dirt in front of himself and Optimus. With a very strained breath Lockdown rose to his knees and looked up at a very blurry Optimus Prime, he laughed “So we meet again.”

Optimus did not answer, he simply stared at the bot as he struggled to look composed and in control. He shifted around in the chains and spat liquids of different colors onto the ground offering Prime sneers every once in a while “Are you enjoying this, watching me struggle” Optimus narrowed his eyes “Don’t tell me your upset that Megatron was a more effective fighter then you.”

“I know who you are bounty hunter.”

Lockdown raised an eyebrow “Oh, did you consult that big corpse in the ground, what did it tell you?”

“Where you’re from, who you answer to.”

“I answer to myself” Lockdown spat out “I take my jobs and I make every decision.”

“Is that so” Megatron chuckled

Finally, Lockdown managed to stand up on trembling legs and turned to address Megatron “Do you think you’ve won Megatron, because you’ve knocked my space ship out of the sky and tied me up?”

“You claim to be in control but here you are, battered and beaten, not one of your soldiers standing with you; I would say you made a mistake when you attempted to kill me, a bad decision even.”

Lockdown laughed again, deeply, he even began to cough “Everything has gone according to plan, _everything_” he turned to Optimus, a wild look in his green eyes “I’ve scared you into silence by simply showing you my power and allowing you to learn my identity” he swiveled back over to Megatron “And I’ve shown you just how effective _my_ army is at making both of your little groups look like fools!”

Megatron’s expression dropped and he felt that familiar anger begin to boil up inside him. Although the bot was barely functioning, he still had the strength to speak like this. Despite everything Megatron had done Lockdown remained unbroken, it seemed impossible. Lockdown picked up on the change in the decepticon’s face and continued “The truth is you are both pawns in a much larger game, as am I” he stood tall and triumphant, chains still constricting him “the only difference is that _I_ and a pawn of the winning side, the intelligent side; I know how this game will play out, I know we will win because I can predict everything either of you will do.”

With his last words Lockdown hear one shot ring out and felt the side of his head heat up. Without knowing it he fell to his knees and began looking at the floor. Hot black liquid began dripping out, but it wasn’t coming from his mouth or his body; it was almost as if it was coming from his head, the part that had felt hot a minute ago. Again, Lockdown felt himself fall without willing it or realizing it. He was now looking up at the sky of Cybertron; so grey and featureless. Slowly two shadows stepped into his view. Their features also blurred into the sky; but their eyes, blue and red, he could identify them by that. He gave a shaky laugh and felt himself lose focus and drift off.

Optimus didn’t break eye contact with the bot till the last of the green left his eyes and his head fell to the side lightly. When he looked up, he saw Megatron watching him, not his face, his weapon. Smoke was still rising from the one shot he had fired into the back of Lockdown’s head. Eventually Megatron took notice of Prime watching him and looked up offering a smirk “A fine shot, I noticed you didn’t try to hit me with it.”

“_Leave Iacon now Megatron_, I have no intention of fighting you today.”

With a smile Megatron backed away “Neither do I, I’ve already made plans to return home” As he said this several Decepticon drop ships flew overhead and began to land behind the collection of battered Decepticons “Until we meet again _brother_.”

With that Megatron took his leave. Optimus watched as every last solider loaded onto the ships and flew off. Once they were clear he allowed his weapon to transform back into a hand and he turned to see the starring faces of his soldiers. Some were awestruck, others seemed upset. Optimus was sure the coming days would cause a spread of stories and opinions on what happened today; but the important part was that Lockdown was no longer a problem, and, hopefully, neither were his masters.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel really happy to have this done, I dont think it turned out as good as I thought it might but in the time that I started uploading this story I started so many others that I'm proud of. I dont know when I'll return to this story but I want to for sure. Till then I hope you enjoyed, and I hope you stick around and read some of my other stuff; and if you want to read things like this there's a book called Transformers Exodus that inspired me a lot.


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